Rights Group: Survivors of Regime’s Bombardment Are Killed under Torture

Fadel Abdul Ghani, director of the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR), said that Syrian civilians who survive bombardment by the Assad regime and its allies often die under torture in Assad’s prisons or in summary executions by his militias.

In a report marking the sixth anniversary of the Syrian revolution, Abdul Ghani said that aerial bombardment by regime forces did not stop despite the ceasefire which came into force in December 29. He noted that aerial bombardment continues to cause civilian casualties, especially in the Dara’a, Eastern Ghouta, Idlib, and the Alwaer district in Homs in Homs.

Abdul Ghani pointed out that the Assad regime and its Russian allies continue to violate the ceasefire agreement despite Russia being a guarantor of the agreement.

The SNHR has documented daily deaths of detainees in Assad’s prisons who either die under torture or are executed after show trials in violation of international law and international humanitarian law, Abdul Ghani added.

According to the rights group, over 447 detainees died under torture in the prisons of the Assad regime in 2016. The SNHR documented 7,543 people, including 251 children and 448 women, who were detained by the Assad regime the same year.

The Network said that at least 12,882 detainees, including 161 children and 41 women, have died under torture in regime’s prisons since revolution started in March 2011. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department + Anadolu Agency)